GOODMAN v. NEW JERSEY STATE PRISON
Filing
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OPINION fld. Signed by Judge John Michael Vazquez on 8/1/16. (sr, ) (N/M)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
____________________________________
:
QUR'AN GOODMAN,
:
:
Petitioner,
:
:
v.
:
:
NEW JERSEY STATE PRISON, et al,
:
:
Respondents.
:
____________________________________:
APPEARANCES:
Qur’an Goodman, # 572188 / 2545537C
New Jersey State Prison
P.O. Box 861
Trenton, NJ 08625
Petitioner Pro se
Civ. No. 16-4591 (JMV)
OPINION
VAZQUEZ, District Judge
Petitioner Qur’an Goodman, a prisoner confined at the New Jersey State Prison in
Trenton, New Jersey, files this writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, challenging his
1994 New Jersey state court conviction.
The filing fee for a petition for writ of habeas corpus is $5.00. Pursuant to Local Civil
Rule 54.3(a), the filing fee is required to be paid at the time the petition is presented for filing.
Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 81.2(b), whenever a prisoner submits a petition for writ of habeas
and seeks to proceed in forma pauperis, that petitioner must submit (a) an affidavit setting forth
information which establishes that the petitioner is unable to pay the fees and costs of the
proceedings, and (b) a certification signed by an authorized officer of the institution certifying
(1) the amount presently on deposit in the prisoner's prison account and, (2) the greatest amount
on deposit in the prisoners institutional account during the six-month period prior to the date of
the certification. If the institutional account of the petitioner exceeds $200, the petitioner shall
not be considered eligible to proceed in forma pauperis. L. CIV. R. 81.2(c).
Petitioner did not prepay the $5.00 filing fee for a habeas petition as required by Local
Civil Rule 54.3(a), nor did Petitioner submit an application for leave to proceed in forma
pauperis.
Accordingly, this matter will be administratively terminated for failure to satisfy the
filing fee requirement. Petitioner will be granted leave to apply to reopen by either paying the
filing fee or submitting a complete application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis.
To the extent Petitioner asserts that institutional officials have refused to provide the
certified account statement, any such assertion must be supported by an affidavit detailing the
circumstances of Petitioner's request for a certified account statement and the institutional
officials' refusal to comply, including the dates of such events and the names of the individuals
involved.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, the Clerk of the Court will be ordered to administratively
terminate this action without prejudice.1 Petitioner will be granted leave to apply to re-open
Such an administrative termination is not a “dismissal” for purposes of the statute of
limitations, and if the case is re-opened pursuant to the terms of the accompanying Order, it is
not subject to the statute of limitations time bar if it was originally submitted timely. See
Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266 (1988) (prisoner mailbox rule); Papotto v. Hartford Life & Acc.
Ins. Co., 731 F.3d 265, 275-76 (3d Cir. 2013) (collecting cases and explaining that a District
Court retains jurisdiction over, and can re-open, administratively closed cases).
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within 45 days, by either prepaying the filing fee or submitting a complete application for leave
to proceed in forma pauperis.
An appropriate Order will be entered.
s/ John Micheal Vazquez
JOHN MICHAEL VAZQUEZ
United States District Judge
Dated: 08/1/2016
At Newark, New Jersey
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